Comets hope to build on past success

Johnny Popham, a first-team all-conference player for the Waupaca baseball team last year, is back for his senior season with the Comets. Greg Seubert Photo

April 5, 2016

Season opener with SPASH rescheduled

By Greg Seubert

A 3-1 loss to eventual Division 2 state champion Milwaukee Lutheran kept the Waupaca baseball team from advancing to state for the first time last year.

Coach John Koronkiewicz hopes some of that momentum carries over to this season.

“You’d like to think that some of it might carry over,” he said after a recent practice on the Comets’ home field. “If anything, what carries over is the confidence that you believe you can play at a high level.”

The Comets finished fourth in the Eastern Valley Conference last year with an 8-6 record, but won a regional championship and a sectional semifinal game before the season ended with the loss to Milwaukee Lutheran in a sectional final in Mayville.

Waupaca was originally scheduled to host Stevens Point in the season opener April 4, but that game has been rescheduled for Monday, May 23. The scheduled opener now is set for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7, in Wrightstown.

“We have some experienced guys coming back,” Koronkiewicz said. “Our pitching staff is pretty much intact with our one and two.”

That would be seniors Johnny Popham and Walker Smith, who saw plenty of time on the mound as juniors. Popham made the all-conference team, while Smith was a second-teamer. Jake Popham, a third-teamer last year, is also back for the Comets.

On the other hand, there are holes to fill.

“We have to find a new catcher to replace Joe (Ogden) behind the plate,” Koronkiewicz said. “We have to find a second outfielder to replace Owen (McCann). Other than that, we have guys that have played the position before, so that’s good. We have some guys coming up that have some ability. I think there’ll be a lot of competition for playing time.”

Instead of returning to the EVC, the Comets will have a handful of new conference teams in the North Eastern Conference. Clintonville, Freedom, Fox Valley Lutheran and Little Chute also competed in the EVC last year and will join Marinette, Oconto Falls, Denmark, Luxemburg-Casco and Wrightstown in the new conference.

“There are excellent athletes in this league,” Koronkiewicz said. “I would think it’s going to be a pretty good baseball conference. FVL has always been very competitive and they won the conference a year ago. Freedom was a game out a year ago and Clintonville’s always been a good baseball town.

“We haven’t played Wrightstown before, but they’re good,” he added. “Denmark’s very good, Lux-Casco’s been good and even Oconto Falls and Marinette have had a long tradition of being good baseball towns. From top to bottom, the league is going to be very competitive, which is a good thing. It’ll probably make for a pretty good game-to-game season.”

Which team comes out on top remains to be seen, but Koronkiewicz likes the Comets’ chances.

“You play good competition, which is always a challenge,” he said. “As a baseball player, you look forward to the opportunity. I think we have to feel as though we can compete as one of the better teams in the conference. That’s how we’re going to approach it.